Refrigerator.



No. 843,668. 7 PATENTED FEB. 12, 1907. U. DUKBLOW, M. J. KIER & H. A. JAEGER.

REFRIGERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2, 1906.

2 SHBETS-SHEET 1.

I S 1? J 1' .6 1% f7 T, I I jWM/V/V. Ogre. v M mm. R R Wag E7 No. 843,668. PATENTED FEB. 12, 1907. O. DUKELOW, M. J. KIER & H. A. .JAEGER.

REFRIGERATOR.

APPLIGATION FILED JAN. z, 1906.

2 snms-snsm 2.

UNITED STATES CHARLES DU KELOW,

PATENT OFFICE.

REFRIGERATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 12, 1907.

Application filed January 2,1906. semi No. 294,096.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES DUKELOW, MARTIN J. KIER, and HERMAN A. JAEGER, citizens of the United States, and residents of Oconomowoc, in the county of VVaukesha and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerators; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The object of our invention is to provide a refrigerator with registering means whereby the initial weight of ice deposited therein is indicated, the register mechanism being so arranged as to show thereafter the exact amount of shrinkage of the ice caused through atmospheric conditions or use.

Said inventionconsists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts, as hereinafter fully set forth, with reference to the accompanying drawings, and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a sectional plan View of the ice-chamber of a refrigerator, showing. the ice receptacle arranged in accordance with our invention, the section being indicated by line 1 1 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a cross-section of the same, indicated by line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a sectional elevation of the refrigerator looking toward the door side, illustrating the register mechanism and its connections upon the inner face of the front wall of said refrigerator; Fig. 4, a detail section of the same on line 4 4 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5, a face view. of a fragment of the front refrigerator-wall, showing the register-dials.

upon pins 0., extending from the walls of said Referring b letter to the drawings, A indicates the re rigerator-body, and B the icechamber, which is supported upon a system of scale-levers C C, the latter being mounted refrigerator-body. The lever C has a forward arm D in link connection with the short arm of a scale-beam E, which beam is pivoted to the front wall of the refrigerator y a stud 1), its long arm being connected to said wall by a counterpoise-spring F, as best 'illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

The

scale-beam E has a toothed segment G ex tending radially from its pivot for engage- /ment with a pinion H, which is secured to the I spindle I of the register mechanism. The said spindle I extends through the front wall of the refrigeratolyatwhich point it carries an index-linger J, there being a spider H secured to the rear face of said wall in which the aforesaid spindle has its bearing. Secured. to the spindle I between the arms of spider H is a gear-wheel K, through which motion is transmitted to a pair of register-gears L M, and the latter are secured to spindles N 0, respectively, said spindles being mounted in a bracket P, which is arranged to be reciprocated in guide-strips Q,

fast to the face of the refrigerator-wall. The

spindles N O are similar to the spindle I in that they carry index-fingers R S at their ends projecting through the refrigeratorwall; but owing to the fact that these spindles are reciprocated with the bracket the openings in said wall through which they project are slightly elongated.

Graduated indicator-dials a d 6 are arranged upon the outside of the refrigerator in connection with the index-fingers, so as to show at all times the amount of ice in pounds which the refrigerator contains as well as the amount previously used.

The register mechanism, as shown, being of the well-known multiplying type, forms no part of our invention and may be varied in structural detail, one of the essential features of our invention, however, being the provision for automatic engagement or disengagement of the train of register-wheels from the unit or drive spindle I, whereby the said spindle, together with its index-finger, may be actuated either independently or in connectionwith those of said train. The mechanism for accomplishing the above result and its object is fully set forth hereinafter.

The filling-door T is hinged to the front wall of the refrigerator and serves as a closure.

for an opening in the same through which ac-j This door is provided -witha lockf,

which is closed by a dispensing-door U in hinge connection with vthetirst-named door and also secured by a lock or catch g, as best in the path of a lug'W, which is fasten the inner face of the-fillin -door .T, and'thelatter when closed causes said lug toe-trike the-bellcrank, and thereby force the bracket P forward, which movement permits the registergear L to mesh with its corresponding-gearwheel K, secured to the unit or drive spindle. The bell-crank V is held down by the lug W in oppositionto a sprin X, fast to said'bellcrank, and a pin it, projecting from the refrigorator-Wall. When the filling-dooris opened, it will be seen that the spring is free to exert a pressure to retract the bracket, and thus disengage the register-gears. y

While we have shown and described a bellcrank and spring to operate in conjunction with the filling-door for throwing the register in out of gear, it will be understood that the dial.

we 'may employ any suitable mechanical means to be controlled-by said door for accomplishing the same result without departing from the spiritof our invention, and we may in some instances substitute an equalizing weight for the spring shown in connection with the scale-beam.

Assuming that the register index-fingers are all in gear and that the refrigerator is to be loaded with ice, the filling-door 'l is unlocked and swung down. This causes the gear L of the permanent recording-register to dis engage the gear-wheel K on the units-spindle i, and when ice is placed in the chamber B its weight will cause the free ends of the scalelevers to sink, thereby imparting movement to the scale-beam against the tension of the equalizing-spring, and this motion in. turn is transmitted to the spindle I through the segment G and pinion ll, causing the index-fing'er J (see Fig. 5 of the drawings) to revolve in the direction of the arrow until the Weight of the ice equalizes the scale-beam resistance, at which time the index-finger stops, thereby showingthe amount The filling-door is then closed and locked, which movement causes the gear of the permanent recording-register to be pushed into mesh with its corresponding gear K of the units-spindle. If it is desired to remove a piece of ice from the chamber, the dispensing-doorU (which is of access'theretb) is opened, and when the ice is removed the difference in weight immediately causes the units-spindle l to retract from the point, as previously stated. This motion, owing tothe egister-gears being meshed,-revolves spindle N audits index-finger in the directionof the arrow (as indicated in Fig. 5 of the drawings) from zero to a point of ice, as indicated by the only general means l until the shrinkage of ice in the chamber causes it to gradually continue in the same direction until all the ice has been utilized, at

which position it will remain, thus showing the exact amount of ice in pounds which was originally put into the chamber and there after used. The index-fingers J also show at a glance the amount of ice used and the amount remaining in the chamber, their combined' registration being the amount originally placed-therein. The third index-finger Sis simply a hundredsregiSter, which is actuated one-tenth of a revolution with each "complete turn of the second tens index-linger R and may be dispensed with or added, as the case may require.v

By the use of separate doors for filling and dispensing the ice from the ref-rigerator it will be seen that the register mechanism is not disturbed when the dispensing-door is opened, and consequently with the system of keys described it is impossible to remove ice without a registration. The arrangement thus serves as a check to both the supply agent and dispenser, which is particularly {tClVflJl tageous where the refrigerator is used for other thandomestic purposes. In the latter case the locking feature may be dispensed with.

While We have shown and described the register mechanism as being attached to the inner wall of the refrigerator, said mechanism may he placed between thepartition-walls, so as to protect it from moisture, or any suitable cover may be placed over the register to ac complish the desired result;

We claim- 1. In a refrigerator, an ice-chamber, scale supporting mechanisi'n for the same, a register in connection with the scalesupporting i mechanism lor indicating the initial Weight oiice, and a supplementary register arranged to be thrown into gear vuith the first-named register, whereby the amouiit of ice consumed is registered.

2. In a refrigerator, an ice-chamber, scale supporting mechanism for the same, a com .municating door for the chamber, a fixed register mechanism in permanent gear connection with the scale mechanism, a supplementary registermechanism for engagement with: the first-named register, and. means in connection withthe supplementary register and ice-chamber door, whereby the said sup plementary register is thrown into engage ment with the fixed register when the door )5 closed. I

In a refrigeratonprovided with a filling demand a dispensing-door, a suspended icechamber, scale-supporting mechanism therefor, a fixed register mechanism in perinanent gear-connection with the scale meeh- I woo, in the county of'Waukesha andState of IO anism, it sluplplegingery register gor engege- -Wisc0nsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

ment wit t ie' e register, an means in connection with the supplementary register gfifig ifi g g and filling-door, whereby said supplementary HERMAN JAEGER register is thrown into engagement with the fixed register when the door is closed. Witnesses:

In testimony that we claim the foregoing Hmfmy A. NOTBOHM,

we have hereunto set our hands, at Oconomov FRANK NOTBOHM. 

